Dear Ones,

There will come a day when you and your children go through the family photo album and see a picture of you with “Thatha” — your grandfather. They will wonder out of curiosity as to “Who is this man? Where he is from? What profession did he have?” and several other questions.

Though at the evening of my life, I should record for posterity some vignettes highlighting the salient features that shaped my personality and the ideas and people that influenced me. (In this task I have followed the model of the three autobiographies listed below.) The choices and decisions I made depended on who I was and the challenges I was facing. In the final section, “In Retrospect,” I have evaluated the decisions I made.

I am grateful to your grandmother, “Nana” as you call her, for closely examining the text to ensure its accuracy and clarity. This was challenging  since we  did not always remember the events in the same way or treat them with equal importance.

I am greatly indebted to Vivek for his help and encouragement, and to my dear friend Tim Olsen for his help with the final editing and formatting of the website.

I surely hope that you may find the anecdotes interesting to read as a pastime.

With love,
Thatha.

I have found the following books to be useful models for my writing:

Steve Jobs
by Walter Isaacson

My Beloved World
by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor

My Full Life: Reflections at 90
by Jimmy Carter